Tag Archive for 'Solar System'

Blue skies on Pluto. Image credit: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Southwest Research Institute.

The Secrets of Pluto’s Thin Blue Line

Mar 3, 2017 by James Romero

“Like a summer’s evening here on Earth just after sunset. A faint blue glow follows the Sun below the horizon — the only bit of color within...

This is a three-color composite image of Saturn and its rings taken January 23, 2008 with the COMICS instrument on the Subaru Telescope. The Cassini Division and the C ring appear bright. Color differences reflect the temperatures; the warmer part is blue, the cooler part is red. Image credit: NAOJ.

Researchers Measure Brightness, Temperatures of Saturn’s Main Rings

Mar 2, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

Using mid-infrared data from the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope, a research team led by Dr. Hideaki Fujiwara, Subaru scientist at the National Astronomical Observatory...

This image of the object F16QA was obtained using Cassini’s narrow-angle camera on Feb. 5, 2017, at a distance of 610,000 miles (982,000 km) from the F ring. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

NASA’s Cassini Orbiter Spots Two Small Objects in Saturn’s F Ring

Feb 28, 2017 by News Staff

As Cassini continues its ring-grazing orbits, diving just past the outside of Saturn’s F ring, the outermost discrete ring of the planet, it is tracking...

Image showing a family tree of stars in the solar neighborhood. Image credit: University of Cambridge.

Astronomers Reconstruct History of Solar Neighborhood with Evolutionary Tree

Feb 21, 2017 by News Staff

A University of Cambridge-led team of astronomers, using chemical elements as a proxy for stellar DNA, has assembled an evolutionary family tree of stars...

A large pit valley in Lucaya crater, Mars: (a) exposure of putative crossbeds on windward slope of dunes, and (b) interdune strata exposed in planform showing contrasting albedo and crosscutting relationships similar to that exposed in the dune. Image credit: M.C. Bourke & H.A. Viles.

Researchers Uncover New Evidence for Water on Ancient Mars

Feb 19, 2017 by News Staff

Dr. Mary Bourke from Trinity College Dublin and University of Oxford Professor Heather Viles have discovered a patch of land in an equatorial crater on...

Artist’s impression of Planet Nine. Image credit: Tom Ruen / ESO.

Backyard Worlds: Join Search for Planet Nine, Nearby Brown Dwarfs

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

A NASA-funded website called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 lets everyone participate in the search for the hypothetical Planet Nine and ‘failed’ stars...

This enhanced color composite image, made with data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, shows the area around Ernutet crater, which is about 32 miles (52 km) in diameter and is located in the northern hemisphere. The bright red portions appear redder with respect to the rest of Ceres. In the new study, planetary researchers found that these red areas around Ernutet are associated with evidence of organic material. Images taken using blue (440 nm), green (750 nm) and infrared (960 nm) spectral filters were combined to create the view. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA.

Aliphatic Organic Compounds Detected on Ceres

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

An international team of planetary researchers has discovered the presence of aliphatic organic compounds — carbon-based building blocks that may...

This composite image showing Jupiter (center) and three of its moons -- Callisto (left), Io, and Ganymede -- was taken by OSIRIS-REx’s PolyCam instrument. Image credit: NASA / Goddard / University of Arizona.

OSIRIS-REx Takes Its First Images of Jupiter and Galilean Moons

Feb 17, 2017 by News Staff

During asteroid search operations, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft snapped several images of Jupiter and its Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. This...

Artist’s concept of the super-Earth exoplanet GJ 411b. Image credit: Ricardo Ramirez.

Astronomers Reveal Catalog of Nearby Stars, Detect 114 Potential Exoplanets

Feb 13, 2017 by News Staff

Astronomers today released the largest-ever compilation of exoplanet-detecting observations made with a technique called radial velocity. They also demonstrated...

This artist’s rendering illustrates a conceptual design for a potential future mission to land a robotic probe on the surface of Europa. The lander is shown with a sampling arm extended, having previously excavated a small area on the surface. The circular dish on top is a dual-purpose high-gain antenna and camera mast, with stereo imaging cameras mounted on the back of the antenna. Three vertical shapes located around the top center of the lander are attachment points for cables that would lower the rover from a sky crane, which is envisioned as the landing system for this mission concept. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / M. Carroll.

Science Report on NASA’s Europa Lander Concept Released

Feb 10, 2017 by News Staff

In a new report to NASA released this week, a 21-member team of scientists assess the scientific value and engineering design of a future mission to the...

This image of Saturn’s moon Epimetheus was taken on January 30, 2017 and received on Earth February 1, 2017. The image was taken using the CL1 and GRN filters. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SSI.

Cassini Orbiter Zooms Past Two Saturnian Moons: Epimetheus and Mimas

Feb 10, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter captured these images of Mimas and Epimetheus during a close flyby on January 30, 2017. This image of Saturn’s moon...

This artist’s concept depicts the early Martian environment (right) -- believed to contain liquid water and a thicker atmosphere -- versus the cold, dry environment seen at Mars today (left). Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Did Ancient Martian Volcanism Provide the Sunblock to Get Life Going?

Feb 8, 2017 by James Romero

Intense volcanism early in Mars history could have aided the emergence of life on the red planet through filtering out harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation...

NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter obtained this image of Saturn’s moon Enceladus on November 27, 2016. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of the moon. North on Enceladus is up and rotated 6 degrees to the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini Captures Stunning View of Enceladus

Feb 7, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA has released a new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of Saturn’s moons, taken by the agency’s Cassini orbiter. NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter...

Cyclones swirl around the south pole, and white oval storms can be seen near the limb -- the apparent edge of the planet -- in this image of Jupiter’s south polar region taken by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft. The image was acquired on February 2, 2017, from an altitude of 47,600 miles (76,600 km) above Jupiter’s swirling cloud deck. Prior to the Feb. 2 flyby, the public was invited to vote for their favorite points of interest in the Jovian atmosphere for JunoCam to image. The point of interest captured here was titled ‘Jovian Antarctica’ by a member of the public, in reference to Earth’s Antarctica. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS.

Juno Completes Its Fourth Flyby of Jupiter

Feb 4, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully completed a close flyby of Jupiter on February 2, 2017. Cyclones swirl around the south pole, and white oval storms...

Ahuna Mons, Ceres’ lonely mountain, is seen in this simulated perspective view. The elevation has been exaggerated by a factor of two. The view was made using enhanced-color images from NASA’s Dawn orbiter. Images taken using blue (440 nm), green (750 nm) and infrared (960 nm) spectral filters were combined to create the view. The spacecraft’s framing camera took the images from Dawn’s low-altitude mapping orbit, from an altitude of 240 miles (385 km) in August 2016. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / UCLA / MPS / DLR / IDA / PSI.

Ceres May Have Vanishing Cryovolcanoes

Feb 3, 2017 by News Staff

Ahuna Mons, a 2.5-mile- (4 km) tall mountain on Ceres interpreted as a geologically young cryovolcano, may have some hidden older siblings, according to...

Hand sample images of the cut NWA 7635 stone and a representative backscattered electron image of the igneous texture of the stone. Image credit: Thomas J. Lapen et al, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1600922.

Rare Martian Meteorite Provides Clues to Red Planet’s Evolution

Feb 2, 2017 by News Staff

Northwest Africa (NWA) 7635 — a Martian meteorite found in Algeria in 2012 — has given planetary researchers information about volcanic activity...

This Cassini image features a density wave in Saturn’s A ring (at left) that lies around 83,575 miles (134,500 km) from Saturn. Density waves are accumulations of particles at certain distances from the planet. This feature is filled with clumpy perturbations, which researchers informally refer to as ‘straw.’ The wave itself is created by the gravity of Saturn’s moons Janus and Epimetheus, which share the same orbit around the gas giant. Elsewhere, the scene is dominated by ‘wakes’ from a recent pass of the ring moon Pan. The image was taken in visible light with Cassini’s wide-angle camera on December 18, 2016. The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 34,000 miles (56,000 km) from the rings and looks toward the unilluminated side of the rings. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Saturn’s Main Rings Up Close

Jan 31, 2017 by News Staff

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took these stunning photos of Saturn’s rings on December 18, 2016, while it was performing one of its ‘ring-grazing’...

Cassini’s narrow-angle camera took this image of Tethys on November 10, 2016. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 228,000 miles (367,000 km) from Tethys. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Cassini’s New Breathtaking Image of Tethys

Jan 26, 2017 by Enrico de Lazaro

NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has sent back a breathtaking image of Tethys, a small, icy moon of Saturn. Cassini’s narrow-angle camera took this image...

This is an artist’s rendering of the space collision 466 million years ago that gave rise to many of the meteorites falling today. Image credit: Don Davis, Southwest Research Institute.

Study: Today’s Rare Meteorites Were Common in Ordovician Period

Jan 25, 2017 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Astronomy is the first to look at meteorites from before giant space collision 466 million years ago. This...

Cross section of Ceres showing the surface layers that are the subject of this study plus a watery mantle and a rocky-metallic core. The column of material at and just below Ceres’ surface (box) – the top layer contains anhydrous (dry) pyroxene dust accumulated from space mixed in with native hydrous (wet) dust, carbonates, and water ice. Image credit: Pierre Vernazza, LAM-CNRS / AMU.

NASA’s SOFIA Observatory Collects New Data on Composition of Dwarf Planet Ceres

Jan 23, 2017 by News Staff

New observations from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) show that Ceres does not appear to have the carbon-rich surface...

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